Free trees for Ballard residents

Ballardites looking to spruce up their gardens are in luck: The city of Seattle is offering free trees this fall through its Trees for Neighborhoods program.

It’s part of Seattle’s goal to increase its canopy cover. It’s now at 23 percent, just shy of the goal of 30 percent.

Trees have many benefits, says Jana Dilley of the city of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment. They help reduce storm water runoff, which in turn lowers the amount of pollutants in the water. They also foster a sense of community.

“People will go out and walk when there are more with trees in their neighborhood, so they get to know their neighbors better,” Dilley said.

The program was piloted last year. Until now, it focused primarily on South Seattle, which has a lower canopy cover than North Seattle. Canopy cover is gaged by determining what percent of an aerial view of a site is covered by tree canopy.

Ballard is a part of North Seattle that has far fewer trees, plus a low canopy cover. Dilley says they had extra trees this year, so they decided to open it up to Ballard residents

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